Saturday, 23 February pm to 10:30 pm Kel Watson Theatre, Forest Hill College, Mahoneys Road, Burwood East, Vic

Transcription

1 May 2012 keertana... a bridge to the rich South Indian cultural heritage... Friday, 22 February pm to 9:30 pm Wyndham Cultural Centre, 177 Watton Street, Werribee, Vic Saturday, 23 February pm to 10:30 pm Kel Watson Theatre, Forest Hill College, Mahoneys Road, Burwood East, Vic

2 Ranjani and Gayatri Ranjani and Gayatri are foremost among the leading camatic musicians of today. They are the rarest of artistes who have achieved enduring success in both vocal and violin. Perfection of sruti, powerful voice control and uncompromising adherence to tradition and classicism - these are some of the qualities that describe the music of Ranjani and Gayatri. Above all this, it is the sisters capacity to deeply experience and enjoy what they sing, that takes their music to a different plane. Their two voices blend and contrast to strike a fine balance between vibrancy and contemplation, intellect and emotion, tradition and innovation. It is this unique combination in their music that appeals to the connoisseur and the lay listener alike. Audiences eagerly await and savour their in-depth Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi-s and soul-stirring Viruthams, which are special features of Ranjani Gayatri s repertoire. Ranjani and Gayatri are also accomplished violinists. They started their musical journey as violinists even before they reached their teens, and made a name for themselves as one of the leading violinists of their generation, performing in leading sabhas all over the country and abroad. Besides playing the violin duet, they have also performed along with musical legends such as Smt. D. K. Pattammal, Sri. M. Balamurali Krishna, Sri. T. Vishwanathan and other popular musicians of the current generation. Ranjani and Gayatri owe their rich musical heritage to their Gurus, Sri. T. S. Krishnaswami who taught them violin and Sri. P. S. Narayanaswamy, who guides them now. They had their initial vocal training from their mother Smt. Meenakshi Balasubramanian from whom they still continue to learn. As one of the top performing camatic musicians, Ranjani and Gayatri have performed widely all over India in major festivals. They have also performed abroad in countries including USA, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, the Middle East and UK. They have given many thematic concerts and have an extensive repertoire consisting of gems of the Trinity, old and contemporary Tamil compositions and other languages including Sanskrit, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Hindi and Marathi. They have won numerous awards and titles, and to mention a few among them: Sanskriti Award from Sanskriti Pratishtan, New Delhi (only the third camatic musicians in thirty years to be so honoured) Title of lsai Peroli from the Kartik Fine Arts, Chennai National Eminence Award from Shanmukhananda Fine Arts, Mumbai The Kalki Krishnamurthy Memorial Award 2

3 H. N. Bhaskar Mysore H. N. Bhaskar is the son and disciple of Vidwan Sri. H. K. Narasimha Murthy and Vidushi Smt. H. N. Rajalakshmi of Mysore. He is a Grade-A violinist of All India Radio and Doordarshan. Widely noted for his emotive and adroit playing, he is one of the most sought after violinists. Bhaskar has been under the able guidance of the great Violin Maestro Sangeetha Kalanidhi Padmasri Parur M. S. Gopalakrishan for the past 10 years. He is accompanying all the top-notch artistes of the day and has been extensively recommended by all. He is also a reputed and a graded composer of All India Radio. He travels all over the globe for accompaniment and solo performances. He has received numerous awards for his achievements. Delhi Sairam In 1997, Delhi Sairam s family moved from New Delhi to Chennai with the sole objective of enabling him pursuing Mridangam as a full time profession. At New Delhi, he learnt the basics of the art form from Sri T.R. Dhandapani. Since 1997, he has been under the strict and expert tutelage of Mridangam Maestro, Sri Tiruvarur Bhakthavatsalam who has given him exposure in each and every aspect of the art of Mridangam playing with particular reference to adaptability of an accompanist. During the last 5 years, he has given more than 1000 performances, including accompanying eminent and popular musicians: Sangeetha Kalanidhi and Padmasri Dr. N. Ramani Sangeetha Kalanidhi and Padma Bhushan Sri. T.V. Sankaranarayanan Sangeetha Chudamani Sri. O. S. Tyagarajan Sri. Neyveli Santhanaagopalan Padmasri Smt. Sudha Ragunathan including her performance in SPIRIT OF UNITY Concert at Shirdi Smt. Bombay Jayashri Ramnath Smt. Geetha Rajasekhar Priya Sisters - Haripriya and Shanmugapriya Smt. Ranjani and Smt. Gayathri Dr. (Smt.) Radha Bhaskar Smt. Gayathri Girish Smt. Gayathri Venkataraghavan Sri. Surya Prakash Delhi Sundararajan Chinmaya Sisters He performed a Ragam, Tanam, Pallavi demonstration with Sangeetha Kala Acharya and Principal of Music Academy s School Sri. Chengleput Ranganathan at Madurai. He also recorded a Ragam, Tanam, Pallavi along with Sikkil Gurucharan and Abhisekh Raghuram, all Yuva Kala Bharathi Awardees for the 80th day Celebrations of (late) Dr. Y.G. Parthasarathy in November He has given a number of performances, including live programmes, in All India Radio and Doordarshan (TV). He accompanied Smt. Ranjani and Smt. Gayatri during a tour to USA and Canada in September / October 2008 and performed in 20 concerts. 3

4 Ranjani Gayatri: An Interview Chitra Sudarshan On Carnatic Music and their early success RG: Every day is a new day we approach it afresh, as though it were the first day of a new endeavour. We try not to rest on our laurels. We do music because we love it not just for the kudos or the appreciation. We believe Carnatic music is a beautiful classical form; a truly multifaceted music form, up there with the very best. Its music can be enjoyed at many levels: there are the compositions, there is the creativity, there are the niravals, the kalpana swaras and the alapana; the ragam-tanam-pallavi; the several tala formats it is filled with enormous complexities and endless permutations and multi-layered that listeners can take away from it what they want. It is a complex art to master, and we were fortunate to have had the opportunity of having been exposed to it and trained in it from a young age. We believe that if Carnatic music were presented in its traditional form in all its beauty with attention paid to the basics like shruti suddham and the aahaaras as Hindustani musicians do it will be more widely appreciated and will reach a wider audience. If one presents Carnatic music beautifully, it will appeal to the lay person for its melody, and the connoisseur for its technical brilliance. There is no need for gimmicks. When we present Carnatic music well, we can capture that something during a performance and connect with an audience in a way that is very special. We cherish those moments. On Fusion Music R-G: We don t believe fusion is the way to go to popularize Carnatic music. Fusion is a different genre altogether when some Carnatic ragas are played with drums and keyboard it is no more Carnatic music it becomes a different sort of music; not that we have anything against it it has a place and an audience, but it is no more Carnatic music. A Special Moment etched in their memories R-G: One such moment stands out amongst all the rest: It was January 1999, when due to fortuitous circumstances, we were slotted to present a vocal concert at the TTD Devasthanam in T Nagar [Chennai], because someone who was designated to perform in that time-slot couldn t make it. We had only then switched over to vocal music from violin, and were very apprehensive, wondering if there will be at least a handful of people in the audience. But lo and behold, when our concert began, we saw the hall was packed and there was not a square inch of standing room left. People had occupied the aisles, the window sills it was mind boggling. That spurred us to give of our best and we sang like we had never done we don t know where the inspiration came from, but we gave a wonderful performance we could just sense it. It was a life-changing moment; it gave us so much confidence, and we began to believe we could make it as vocal artistes. There was no looking back after that. On Composing Music We believe we have something more to offer in music, and hence turned our hands to composing. We had grown up in Bombay, and although we trained in Carnatic music, we were exposed to abhangs and Hindustani music as well. When we wished to compose music for abhangs, we went to Kolhapur and spent time imbibing the abhang tradition. What we have done in our compositions of abhangs and bhajans is we have preserved and stayed true to those traditions in our compositions and renditions. We have chosen ragas that are appropriate to those traditions when composing. CMC offers family membership packages that are economical and provide substantial discounts. Become a CMC Member and support the cause. For more details contact one of the volunteers. 4

5 Acknowledgement Venue Audio Artiste Hosting Design Nicky Edwards and the staff at Kel Watson Theatre, Forest Hill College, Mahoneys Road, Burwood East Vic Ross LeClerc and staff at Wyndham Cultural Centre, 177 Watton Street, Weribee Vic Charles Walker, Imperial Audio Sunitha and Shankar Raman Family Yamuna and Gopal Narayanan Family Oviam Creations Concert Arrangement Anu and Krishnan Family Arundathi and Sriram Family Chitra and Soundarajan Iyer Family Chitra and Sudarshan Family Jayasree and Vasu Srinivasan Family Prabha and Shankar Family Shoba and Ramnath Iyer Family Subhadra and Sankaran Ramesh Family Sunitha and Shankar Raman Family Supriya and Sadha Kameswaran Family Yogam and Ramanan Family CMC wishes to acknowledge the assistance provided by all music schools of Melbourne in the publicity of this concert. Contacts Anu Ramesh Vasu Shoba Soundar Prabha Sunitha and Shankar CMC... a bridge to the rich South Indian cultural heritage... CMC offers family membership packages that are economical and provide substantial discounts. Become a CMC Member and support the cause. For more details contact one of the volunteers. Are you interested in contributing to CMC s community service mission? You can do so by making voluntary donations to CMC s activities, contributing your time to a community cause, and by attending and supporting CMC events. Please register your interest in any of the above with one of the CMC volunteers. 5

6 We give shape to ideas Oviam Creations 17 Medina Road Glen Waverley